Whirlwind - Barrett Tillman [118]
The fast carriers planned two strikes on the 15th, keeping the pressure on Japanese airfields. The 103 planes of Strike Able were overland at 6:35 A.M., attacking their assigned targets. A dozen Ticonderoga fighter-bombers struck military and industrial facilities on the Choshi Peninsula when Shangri-La broadcast, “All Strike Able planes, this is Nitrate Base. All Strike Able planes return to base. Do not attack target. The war is over!”
Still in his dive, Lieutenant (jg) John McNab was the twelfth Hellcat pilot in line. He dropped his 500-pounder just as the message came through—probably the last aviator to bomb Japan.
Shangri-La pilot Dick DeMott was leading a search for downed aviators in the Tokyo area. “On our way to the target area, word was passed of the official announcement from Pearl and CinCPac of the end of the war. What a time to hear it—en route to Tokyo!” Upon return to the flagship DeMott reported to McCain, noting the admiral was “slightly burned up at the Japs for continuing to send their planes out after us. He’s a funny little guy. Everyone is all smiles and happy aboard, although it’s almost too hard to believe the news.”
From mirthfulness, DeMott turned reflective. “Brother, I am thankful that I am alive this day and got to see the end of the war from the front seat. I hope to spend the rest of my life enjoying everything and being at peace with the world. Kick me if I don’t.”
Hancock pilot Lieutenant Richard L. Newhafer, a future novelist and screenwriter, said the broadcast contained “all the hope and unreasoning happiness that salvation can bring. It brought tears and laughter and a numb sense of unbelief.”
Nevertheless, some of Newhafer’s squadron mates had to shoot their way out of Japanese airspace. Lieutenant Herschel Pahl’s four Hellcats outfought seven enemy pilots, downing three en route home to Hancock. But others were not so fortunate.
Lieutenant Howard M. Harrison was leading six Yorktown Hellcats when they were ganged by as many as seventeen Japanese fighters. The lopsided combat degenerated into a series of close-range hassles with losses on both sides. Minutes later Lieutenants (jg) Maury Proctor and Theodore Hansen were the only Americans still flying. They returned to base, mourning the last-minute deaths of four of their friends in a senseless final act.
Nor was that all. Eight of HMS Indefatigable’s Supermarine Seafires were escorting carrier bombers over Odaki Bay when a dozen Japanese navy fighters bounced the Royal Navy planes from above and behind. Outnumbered and caught at an altitude disadvantage, the British fought for their lives. Sub-Lieutenant Fred Hockley was shot down on the Zekes’ initial pass. He bailed out but there was no time to watch him. However, in the biggest combat of its career against three Axis powers, the Seafire outdid itself. Keeping their speed up and avoiding the urge to dogfight, the Royal Navy pilots claimed eight kills, led by Sub-Lieutenant Victor S. Lowden, who, despite a jammed cannon, scored two and split another with his wingman. (Available Japanese records indicate loss of at least four planes and three pilots.)
Four Zekes got past the Seafires to attack the bombers, badly damaging one Avenger. Despite a small fire onboard, Petty Officer A. A. Simpson remained in his turret and opened up on the closest assailant. He scored several hits and claimed a probable kill.
Lieutenant (jg) Tadahiko Honma of the 304th Naval Squadron reported downing an Avenger before his plane was flamed by a Seafire, likely by Sub-Lieutenant Randy Kay. Honma bailed out, surviving with burns.
Now unescorted, the six Grummans continued to the target and bombed accurately. However, the crippled Avenger could not make the task force, so Simpson’s pilot, Lieutenant L. W. Baldwin, splashed down in a safe water landing near a destroyer.
The Seafires had scored a notable victory but their joy was deadened